ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany returns to the site of their 2022 America East semifinal for another showdown against #21 Vermont in the Great Danes' regular-season road finale.
 
Game Info
October 27, 2023 at #21 Vermont (7:00 pm)
Live Stats | AE.tv | Game Notes
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 0-7-1 on the road this season; Vermont is 6-1-0 at home
• Vermont ranks fifth in the America East in scoring offense; UAlbany ranks seventh
• Vermont ranks second in the America East in scoring defense; UAlbany ranks fourth
• UAlbany is 10-3-1 in the last 14 games against Vermont
• Alex Pechacek ranks second in the America East in assists
• Vermont's Yaniv Bazini ranks second in the America East in goals scored and total points

Scouting Vermont
Vermont has been ranked in every United Soccer Coaches national poll in 2023, so far maxing out at #12 after finishing #4 in the final poll of 2022 following the Catamounts' run to the national quarterfinal.  Last season's team won 16 games and defeated Quinnipiac, SMU, and UCLA in the NCAA Tournament before falling at eventual national champion Syracuse.  Vermont was picked to finishe second, narrowly, in the 2023 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, gaining 45 points and three first-place votes, one each behind preseason favorite and defending champion New Hampshire.  This season, Vermont has 10 wins in its first 15 games, including the lone victory of the season over Bryant and the Bulldogs' NCAA-leading defense.  Two Catamounts have scored 14 or more points this season, Yaniv Bazini and Carter Johnson, with 17 and 14, respectively.  Goalkeeper Jack Owen has played every minute for Vermont this season, winning 10 games and recording seven shutouts.  UAlbany defeated then-#8 Vermont in the America East semifinal last season in Burlington 1-0, and recorded two-straight shutouts of the Catamounts in a span of 10 days.  UAlbany holds a narrow 14-12-4 lead in the series against Vermont, dating back to 2000, and is 10-3-1 over the last 14, including a seven-game winning streak from 2015-19.
 
Last Time vs. Vermont
November 10, 2022 | UAlbany advanced to the America East semifinal for the first time since the 2017 season and drew two-seed Vermont.  The Great Danes had played the eighth-ranked Catamounts to a scoreless tie just 10 days before to close the regular season, holding the high-powered Vermont offense to just seven total shots.  In the semifinal, the Great Danes' defense held firm against an 18-shot performance from the Catamounts.  UAlbany broke a scoreless tie in the 81st minute on a counterattack and went on to upset the still eighth-ranked Catamounts 1-0 to advance to the America East title game.
 
Last Time Out
For the first time as conference opponents, UAlbany paid a visit to Bryant.  The Bulldogs were 11-1-2 in 14 games, recording 11 shutouts and conceding just three goals to claim the title as the NCAA's top defense.  Bryant scored in the 26th minute, and for the first time in 2023, conceded a goal after scoring their first.  Alejandro Giner connected with Chris Lee and Ander Castillo in transition to tie the game at one in the 28th minute.  Bryant, however, scored again in the 41st, and one final time in the 77th, to claim a 3-1 victory.
 
Around the America East
After upsetting #21 Vermont in Burlington, 2-1, UMBC has taken a narrow lead in the conference standings with 10 points.  Vermont, which dropped in the national rankings from #16, is now tied with #17 New Hampshire with nine points each.  After tying each of its first three conference games, New Hampshire has won two-straight, at UMBC and vs. NJIT.  #25 Bryant has eight points, as does Binghamton.  NJIT trails with seven, ahead of UAlbany with four and UMass Lowell with zero.
 
Friday's America East Games

• #25 Bryant at Binghamton, 6:00 pm
• UMBC at NJIT, 7:00 pm
• UAlbany at #21 Vermont, 7:00 pm

Common Opponents

• UMBC
  • UAlbany: 9/23 vs. UMBC, L, 1-2
  • #16 Vermont: 10/21 vs. UMBC, L, 1-2
• Cornell
  • UAlbany: 10/3 at Cornell, L, 2-3
  • #22 Vermont: 9/1 vs. Cornell, W, 1-0
• Binghamton
  • UAlbany: 10/7 vs. Binghamton, L, 1-3
  • #22 Vermont: 10/14 at Binghamton, W, 5-0
• UMass Lowell
  • UAlbany: 10/14 vs. UMass Lowell, W, 2-0
  • #14 Vermont: 9/30 vs. UMass Lowell, W, 2-1
• Colgate
  • UAlbany: 10/17 at Colgate, L, 0-1
  • #22 Vermont: 9/4 vs. Colgate, W, 2-0
• Bryant
  • UAlbany: 10/21 at #24 Bryant, L, 1-3
  • #17 Vermont: 9/23 at Bryant, W, 1-0 

Counterpunch
The Great Danes were the first team in 2023 to score a goal in a game against Bryant after the Bulldogs scored their first goal.  Bryant held the top-ranked defense in the NCAA at the time of the game against UAlbany, having conceded just three goals in 14 games this season while recording 11 shutouts.  Against the Great Danes, the Bulldogs scored their first goal in the 26th minute, and UAlbany turned around and scored right away in the 28th, just 1:19 of game time later.
 
USL Championship Playoffs
Two former Great Danes, Danny Vitiello and Daniel Krutzen, have seen their respective teams, Sacramento Republic FC and Phoenix Rising FC, qualify for the 2023 USL Championship postseason.  Sacramento is the top seed in the west, behind Vitiello's Golden Glove Award-winning season in net, while Krutzen's Phoenix Rising earned the West's six-seed.  The pair would meet in the Western Conference finals, should both teams advance that far.
 
Golden Glove
For the second time in his career, former UAlbany goalkeeper Danny Vitiello won the USL Championship Golden Glove award, recognizing the league's most outstanding goalkeeper each season.  Previously winning the award in 2020 as a member of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, Vitiello recorded a goals-against average of 0.83 with 11 shutouts to anchor Sacramento Republic FC's first-place Western Conference finish in 2023.  His save percentage of .762 in 30 appearance this season led the league's eligible goalkeepers.
 
500
On October 14, 2023, the University at Albany men's soccer program recorded its 500th victory in history.  The program began in 1950, and reclassified to Division II in 1995, and to Division I in 1999.  The victory came against one of the Great Danes newest, yet staunchest, rivals, UMass Lowell, 2-0 in Albany.
 
Dangerous Strikes
Through the Great Danes' first eight games, the team had scored 12 goals.  Five of their previou seven had come on either free kicks or corner kicks, starting with three such goals against Marist.  So far, the Great Danes have scored four goals off corner kicks alone.
 
Helping Hand II
Alex Pechacek recorded his first assist of the season in the Great Danes' fifth game, at home against Marist.  Pechacek finished the game with three assists, the second-most in a single game in Division I program history.  Including the game against Marist, Pechacek has assisted on six of UAlbany's seven goals scored, and has recorded at least one assist in three of four games.
 
First Halves
Until Penn scored in the 11th minute in the Great Danes' seventh game of the season, UAlbany had held its first six opponents scoreless in the first half of each game.  Conversely, UAlbany had scored four goals in first halves this season.
 
At the Top
In Week 3 of the United Soccer Coaches regional rankings, America East institutions accounted for each of the top four, and five of the top 10, spots in the Northeast Poll.  Vermont, New Hampshire, both nationally ranked, took the top two spots, followed by UMBC and undefeated and untied Bryant.  UAlbany landed seventh out of 10, behind Cornell and LIU.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Tiago Dias' two-goal performance, including the game-winner, earned his first career America East Defensive Player of the Week honor.  In scoring twice, first in the 17th minute and next in the 54th, Dias powered the Great Danes to victory over Marist, and doubled his career goals total.
 
Helping Hand
Graduate midfielder Alex Pechacek recorded an assist on all three UAlbany goals against Marist.  The three assists were the second-most in a single game in the program's Division I history, ranking only behind Daniel Krutzen's four at American University during the 2018 season.  No other player in the program's Division I era had recorded three assists in a game.
 
From the Back
All three of UAlbany's goals against Marist came from the defensive line, and specifically center backs Tiago Dias and Santiago Frias.  Dias scored the first two goals of the game, in the 17th and 54th minutes, and Frias added one in the 57th.  All three goals were scored on set pieces, with midfielder Alex Pechacek assisting on each.
 
Shutting Out
After earning shutouts in back-to-back games early in the 2023 season, the UAlbany men's soccer team had recorded seven shutouts in its previous 10 games dating back to the 2022 season.  Since playing Colgate to a 1-1 tie on October 18, 2022, UAlbany had allowed just six goals in 11 games, including two shutouts in 10 days against then #8-ranked Vermont.  UAlbany's shutout streak reached a peak of 505 consecutive minutes between allowing goals to Colgate and in the 2022 America East title game against #22 New Hampshire.
 
Without Borders
Including the United States and Canada, the 2023 men's soccer roster features 29 players representing 13 different countries.  In total, 21 players have joined the team from outside the United States.
 
New Faces
The Great Danes' roster of 29 players features 13 new faces.  Three of the 13 are freshmen, while the remaining 10 have transferred into UAlbany from their previous institutions.  The transfers hail from such programs as Akron, South Florida, and defending national champion Syracuse, among others.
 
Picked Third
After a run to the America East title game in 2022, the Great Danes were picked to finish in a tie for third in the 2023 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.  They shared their point total of 34 with UMBC, and narrowly edging the Retrievers by garnering one first-place vote.
 
Schedule Strength
Including defending national champion and preseason #1 Syracuse, five of the Great Danes 17 opponents in 2023 hold preseason rankings in the United Soccer Coaches national poll.  Behind the Orange, the Great Danes will play games against #12 Vermont, #20 Cornell, #23 New Hampshire, and #25 Penn.
 
Phoenix Rising
Former UAlbany defender Daniel Krutzen '18 signed a deal in January with Phoenix Rising FC of the USL Championship, the second-tier league in the United States.  Krutzen made the move after playing four years in the Canadian Premier League for Forge FC, winning three league titles.
 
Hall of Fame Semifinalist
The most prolific scorer in UAlbany men's soccer history, Lee Tschantret, was named a semifinalist to the National Soccer Hall of Fame's 2023 Veteran Ballot.  Tschantret played at UAlbany from 1987-90, scoring a program-record that still stands today 51 goals.  He earned All-America honors in 1988 and 1989, and after his collegiate season enjoyed a 20-year professional career.
 
U.S. Open Cup
Former UAlbany goalkeeper Danny Vitiello and his Sacramento Republic FC team advanced to the championship game of the 2022 U.S. Open Cup against Orlando City SC of the MLS.  Sacramento was the first team from outside the MLS to reach the title game since Charleston Battery played against D.C. United in 2008.  Vitiello and Sacramento defeated three MLS teams en route to the final, the San Jose Earthquakes, the L.A. Galaxy, and Sporting Kansas City.  In the latter game, the semifinal, Vitiello recorded the decisive save in the penalty kick shootout to advance Sacramento to the final.  Sacramento's magic run ended against Orlando City, falling 3-0.
 
Next: UAlbany hosts NJIT for Senior Night on October 31.